


The World Fell Down

by UmbriFiica



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Anger, Bloodletting, F/M, Hungry plants, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Games, Rebuilding, Sleeping Beauty Elements, The Labyrinth is Conscious, Things will eat you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 10:43:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15750087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbriFiica/pseuds/UmbriFiica
Summary: Jareth's defeat leaves the Labyrinth in ruins. Thirteen years later, Sarah must run the Labyrinth again if she wishes to help its people and its king. But the Labyrinth is no longer the maze she remembers - its new incarnation has taken a darker turn than the ultimately harmless challenge of her childhood.





	The World Fell Down

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work in progress that I started a really long time ago. I lost about half of the story when my computer crashed and I wasn't able to recover anything; since then, I haven't been able to bring myself to work on it very often. I do have a general idea of where things are going, but I may just be posting random chapters from what I have written in my notebooks until I can get it together. Hope you enjoy what I have, and I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long.  
> Also, it has not been run by a beta, so if you notice any glaring mistakes, please let me know.

"Jareth?" She walked towards him, slowly stretching, reveling in the sensations that come with being awake. She had been asleep for a very long time. "You have not woken me in years of recent memory, Goblin King. Not that I am displeased, mind you, but I would like to know why I am up."

He stood on the balcony with his back towards her, hands gripping the railing. She frowned when she saw his white knuckles. He was trembling too - there was no wind but the feathers on his cloak were quivering violently.

"Jareth, what is wrong?" Drawing closer, she looked past him to the lands beyond. Instead of the vast maze she expected, there was only ruin. Horrified, she grabbed his shoulder. "What has happened?" He turned to face her and she gasped. His cheeks were sunken in, his featherlike hair was limp, and his eyes...his beautiful eyes looked bruised, so dark were the rings under them, and they were bright with unshed tears.

Silently, she wrapped her arms around him and he leaned into her shoulder. They stood together for what seemed like an eternity before she whispered into his ear,

"Tell me what happened to the Labyrinth."

He stayed quiet a minute more before he started speaking. He told her of the girl whose dreams had attracted him - dreams that burned so brightly. He spoke of how he had watched as she played her silly games and wished for her outlandish fantasies to come true, often invoking his name in her little rituals. He had seen her past in her teenaged insecurities and indulgences, and he had caught glimpses of her future when she took responsibility into her hands. It was those glimpses that kept bringing him back, a desire to see the woman she could become. He saw a warrior, unafraid to fight for the things she believed in, but also a gentle friend whose hard-won wisdom shone in her expressive grey eyes. A dream of the future, and a woman that he had slowly started to fall in love with.

Sometimes, too, he watched her simply because she was more entertaining and less frustrating than his subjects. It was during one of these times that she wished her baby brother away. He knew she didn't mean it, but she had said the right words and he could not ignore them. The goblins had already taken the child and he had to follow the rules. He had no choice. He offered her dreams to her, told her to forget about the baby. He did not want her to run the Labyrinth, but the boy was lost either way. No matter how much he loved her future self, there was a chance that woman would never exist and in the here and now, she was just another spoiled teenager. She would never get through the Labyrinth.

But she had insisted, and so he had brought her to solve the living maze that surrounded his castle. He was impressed by her determination but found himself disappointed that she had wished away the child in the first place. He had thought her better than that.

Still, he was amazed at her progress and the way she inspired loyalty in his subjects. He had fulfilled her wish to the fullest, playing the part of the villain that she expected - trying to trick and trap her and otherwise slow her down. Only for a small fragment of time did he let down his guard; he sent his dream self into the ballroom that she had imagined. She looked beautiful in the pearl gown, silver vines in her hair, looking more like a grown woman than the 15-year-old girl she was. He had let some of his true self shine through and he had seen the answering attraction in her eyes. But she had broken free of the enchantment - surprisingly - and continued on his journey. He found himself pleased with her tenacity, but still, he thought she would not make it through. He had been wrong.

He had tried to tell her, at the end, had tried to tell her what she meant to him. But she was too young. He knew it, but he could not stop himself. She had matured greatly in the last ten hours but she was still only a teenager. She had refused his offer and returned home with the child. His subjects had even followed her, celebrating until the early hours of the morning. 

He had stayed as an owl and watched until they had all returned to the Labyrinth. She had come to the window and was staring out at the moon when she saw him. She had looked at him for a long moment before telling him to go home. He'd had no choice but to do as she said. As he was flying away, he thought he had heard her say she was sorry and start crying, but he couldn't turn back. While he had no power over her, the reverse could not be said to be true. When he had arrived back in the Underground, it had looked like some sort of disaster had struck. His kingdom was in ruins and his power was waning - he had barely been able to make the transformation from owl to goblin.

She listened as he finished his story, sorrow in her heart. Jareth was the strongest person she knew, but this girl-child had made him weep, something he hadn't done since they were children. The last time she could remember him crying was the day they were cursed and she had been put to sleep. But that had been lifetimes ago and now here he was sobbing into her shoulder as he told her of his lost love. No wonder she had been woken - she was the only being besides him that had enough power to rebuild the Labyrinth and the curse being what it was...with his power depleted, it would be up to her to bring the Labyrinth back to life.

"Come. It's time for you to sleep." She pulled him up with her as she stood.

"No. We have to fix the Labyrinth." He looked out across the desolate ruins. "We have thirteen days before one of us has to go back to sleep. We have time. If we start now..." She let him step away and made no move to help him as he staggered and collapsed. Kneeling by him, she ran her fingers gently through his hair.

"You are exhausted. You'll be no help whatsoever." She held up a hand when he tried to interrupt. "No. Look at yourself." Conjuring up a mirror, she placed it in front of his face. He flinched and turned his gaze away.

"You see? You have lost so much power, I am surprised you are not asleep already." She sighed when he continued to look away from her. Wrapping her arms around him, she whispered in his ear, "You must rest. We both know it - even the Labyrinth knows it. Why will you not go?"

His pain filled eyes met hers.

"If I sleep, I will dream. And eventually, I will have to wake." A tear slipped from his eye. "I don't think I could bear the pain of heartbreak a second time." She shook her head.

"You don't have to wake if you don't want to."

"Yes, I will!" he shouted, pushing her away. "One day, we will have to change places again. Our power is vast, not eternal."

"You could sleep for a thousand, thousand years. You would have that time with her in your dreams." His glare could melt stone.

"And how would that be, waking from a life with her to another millennia of this?" He waved his arm towards the remains of the Labyrinth. "Knowing that she would be dead and I would have no chance of ever really being with her?" Her gaze was cool as she replied, her voice steady.

"Be that as it may, you must sleep. You cannot hope to even begin to heal the Labyrinth if you are not healed yourself." She grabbed his hands and pulled him onto his feet. "I will begin to lay the foundations again. We will rebuild our home as we did so many lifetimes ago. And I promise to wake you before too much time has passed." Her tone brooked no argument and he followed her wearily. She led him past crumbled walls and fallen masonry, up broken stairs to the tower room that she had been asleep in. Made by hands and guarded by magi not their own, it was probably the only place in the Goblin Kingdom that had survived the destruction. She waved a hand and the blood red sheets were replaced with fresh bedding that seemed to glow a rich sapphire hue. The cool scent of lilacs was replaced with a deeper, smokier scent. Looking towards Jareth, who looked dead on his feet, she waved her hand again. His feathered cloak and white clothes were replaced with a loose pair of black silk pants. She led him to the bed and tucked him in between the light cotton sheets. He was asleep almost immediately. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and got up to leave but she stopped when his gloved hand grabbed hers. Turning back, she saw his eyes open, lucid and clear.

"Malia, promise me that you will not interfere in Sarah's life." His grip was strong and she knew that he would not let her go until she promised.

"I give you my word, Jareth. I will not bother your Sarah."  _Unless she bothers me first._ "Now sleep." She pulled her hand from his and his head fell back against the pillows.

"That's not the same thing," he mumbled as his eyes closed once more. Her grin widened as she strode toward the window.

"Good catch. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it now." Glancing back at his sleeping form, her smile softened for a moment before she turned back to the window and looked out over her desolate kingdom. "Let's see where we stand, shall we?"

Blinking slowly, she felt her bones begin to twist and change, legs shrinking and arms lengthening, her whole form growing smaller. Feathers pushed through her skin and her mouth and nose came together, forming a hard beak. In seconds, she had transformed into a majestic barn owl. She spread her wings and took off from the balcony, surveying her domain.


End file.
